12
¶ And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou
here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever
thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: 13 For we will destroy this place, because the
cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent
us to destroy it. 14 And Lot went out, and
spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you
out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one
that mocked unto his sons in law.
15 ¶
And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise,
take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in
the iniquity of the city. 16 And while
he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and
upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they
brought him forth, and set him without the city. 17 And it came to pass, when they had brought
them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither
stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
18 And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so,
my Lord: 19 Behold now, thy servant hath
found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast
shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest
some evil take me, and I die: 20 Behold
now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape
thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. 21 And he said unto him, See, I have accepted
thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the
which thou hast spoken. 22 Haste thee,
escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore
the name of the city was called Zoar. 23
The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.
24 ¶
Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire
from the LORD out of heaven; 25 And he
overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the
cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
26 ¶
But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of
salt.
Lot had at least two other daughters who were married
and the angels told him to give them the warning to get out. Because of Lot,
these wicked people are being given a chance. But, it seems that not ten good
people can be found in this city. The angels declare their intention to destroy
Sodom because of its wickedness. Lot’s son-in-laws, however, think he’s joking.
You can imagine what would happen if you were to tell your children that two
angels visited you and announced that they were about to destroy your town for
its wickedness. They would think you had lost your mind, would they not? But,
this is prepared for them because of how evil they had chosen to be.
The day dawns, the time of judgment has come. But Lot
lingers. Who wouldn’t with two married daughters and their families refusing to
leave? The angels give him no choice and removed him, his wife, and two
daughters that lived at home out of the city.
They tell him not to look back. How hard would that
be? Two families of their own left behind make this a painful thing to bear.
Lot is afraid to follow their command to escape to a nearby mountain. Remember
the mountain that the fleeing armies of Sodom and Gomorrah fled to in 14:10?
Although afraid of something about it, some evil perhaps, he will wind up there
anyway and great evil will overcome him. By requesting permission to flee to a
small village the angels agree to spare it for his sake although all of the
other towns of the plain are destroyed as if in a nuclear holocaust we might
imagine.
Lot’s wife looked back and turned into a pillar of
salt, a part of this judgment. Would you not look back if you had at least two
married daughters and their families being killed in a holocaust that you knew
was a judgment from the Lord, who would not heed your warning and perhaps even
pleading to escape? What sorrow she must have felt. What horror? Think of a
married child that you have and imagine what this would be like.
This brings to mind that we are not to look back
although we do it all the time. We lament and regret what we did and did not do
that has brought us to a place of loss. We grieve for what could have been.
But, we are not to look back. Our sins are forgiven and we are to look forward
and to trust God’s justice and judgment.
In the context of deciding whether to follow Him
immediately or to take care of unfinished business first Jesus said;
Luke
9:57 ¶ And it came to pass, that, as
they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee
whithersoever thou goest. 58 And Jesus
said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son
of man hath not where to lay his head. 59
And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first
to go and bury my father. 60 Jesus said
unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of
God. 61 And another also said, Lord, I
will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at
my house. 62 And Jesus said unto him, No
man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the
kingdom of God.
Paul declared his desire to look ahead this way.
Philippians
3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to
have apprehended [that is to know Christ as Christ knows
him] : but this one thing I do,
forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things
which are before, 14 I press toward the
mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
In leaving this world behind and escaping the judgment
God has planned for this world Jesus makes this note.
Luke
17:24 For as the lightning, that
lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under
heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. 25 But first must he suffer many things, and be
rejected of this generation. 26 And as
it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
27 They did eat, they drank, they
married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into
the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot;
they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
29 But the same day that Lot went out of
Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son
of man is revealed. 31 In that day, he
which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come
down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return
back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife.
We are not to look back. Our greatest times, our most
perfect joy, is ahead of us, with Christ. We may not understand now why a child
refuses Christ, a parent, a friend, and we may grieve at their loss, but, in
the end, we must keep looking forward. Too many Christians in America are
crying about where their country is headed, wanting to elect a national messiah
or some sort of national pastor, continuing to look back. They rip verses out
of context in the Old Testament regarding Israel and keep ranting about “turning America back to
God”. They keep looking back at Sodom.
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